Yuba Sutter Legal Center offers free services and support for older adults
by Stacy Brandt
Legal topics such as eviction, advanced directives and restraining orders are intimidating for most people. They can be even more overwhelming as we get older.
That’s why the Yuba Sutter Legal Center (YSLC) provides free legal services and community education to those 60 and older in Yuba and Sutter counties.
Funding for that support comes in part from Agency on Aging Area 4, which serves aging adults, adults with disabilities, and the people who care for them in Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Sierra, Sutter, Yolo, and Yuba counties.
“Seniors are the ones that are taken advantage of the most, and they’re the ones that may urgently need the most help.”
Pam Epley, Paralegal, Yuba Sutter Legal Center
It’s this kind of support from the legal center that helped Sherry Hoffman stay in her home. The center’s experts were able to negotiate expedited payment from the sale of a relative’s property so Hoffman received the money the day she needed it to prevent getting evicted.
Preventing evictions is a top priority for the center.
“Evictions are scary, especially if they are low-income,” says Pam Epley, who has worked as a paralegal for the center for more than two decades.
To help get the word out, Epley and others with YSLC give talks at senior centers and other locations that older residents frequent. Experts also conduct outreach and home visits for people who lack reliable transportation.
“A lot of the seniors don’t know what is available out there,” Epley says. “Seniors are the ones that are taken advantage of the most, and they’re the ones that may urgently need the most help.”
The YSLC has served seniors since 1977, helping about 300 people annually. In addition to eviction, the legal center prioritizes elder abuse cases. The Center can help with most legal topics important to the area’s seniors such as health care, fraud, and social security payments. However, the center doesn’t provide trust or probate services.
For many clients, without the support of the legal center they would face high attorney fees—or be forced to go without legal support.
“I would go to them in a heartbeat again,” says Shirley Lienert, who received free aid from the center last year. “They helped me resolve my issue and I don’t think I could have done it alone.”
Tim Teske recently got help from the legal center in obtaining a restraining order and says he was pleasantly surprised with the level of service.
“I just asked them to look over the paperwork to see if it was good before I filed,” he explains. “I did not expect to have somebody say, ‘we’ll go ahead and take your case.’”
He says having the free services helped him not only financially, but also emotionally since he was able to focus more on other issues, including his health.
“It’s very comforting to know that they’re there,” he says. “It took a load off my mind.”
Epley says seniors should reach out—even if they’re not sure what kind of help they need.
“We can guide them,” she says. “We want to help every senior we can.”
To learn more about the Yuba Sutter Legal Center call (530) 742-8289 or visit www.yubasutterlegalcenter.org.
